Improvement in can-seaming machines



Nrrnfn 'mfrns ATENT GFFIGE.

JAMES H. PERKINS, OF PHILADELPHIA,- PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE H. PERKINS, OF SAME PLACE, JOSEPH LE COMTE, OF NEW YORK CITY, AND ATLANTIC REFINING COMPANY, AND JAMES H. PERKINS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAN-SEAMlG MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,1 I9, dated December 22, 1874; application filed June 27, 1874.

CASE O.

To atl whom it may conce/rn:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. PERKINS, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Presses for Uniting the Joints of Sheet-Metal Cans, of which the following is a speciiication:

My invention relates to an improvement in what are known as pinning-down machines for completing the joints of sheet-metal cans by pressure 5 and the object of my invention is to simultaneously sink the heads X and unite the same to the body Y of a sheet-metal can by the combined action of radial dies A and a movable bed-plate, B, as shown in the j sectional elevation, Figure l, of the accompanying drawing.

In ordinary pinning down machines, the edges of the head X and body Y of the can, after having been bent, as shown in the diagram, Fig. 3, are subjected to the action of two wheels, D and D', by which they are closely united, as shown in Fig. 4, thejoint x projecting directly outward from the head Y, and at right angles, or nearly so, to the side -of the can. The can in this condition would not possess the necessary strength, and the head or bottom, which consists of but a single thickness of metal, would be too much eX- posed; hence it is usual to pass the entire joint a second time between the wheels, while holding the can in the position shown in Fig. 5, by which means the joint is so bent as to form, in ei'ect, a sunken head, Y.

By my improved machine, which I will now proceed to describe, I am enabled to form the sunken head by a single operation simultaneously with the closing ofthe joints.

The dies A are arranged radially upon a suitable frame, H, and can be simultaneously advanced toward and retracted from each other by levers F, connected by links a to a vertically-:reciprocating cross-head, G, as fully described in Letters Patent No. 146,946, granted on the 27th day of January, to Le Comte and Perkins and the Atlantic Refining Company,

as assignees of Geo. H. Perkins. The said dies, which are, in the present instance, constructed for the formation of the "joints of a square can, are arranged in the manner best observed in the plan view, Fig. 2, so that the pressure of each shall be exerted against a corner of the can, and the central portion of the space between the said dies is occupied by a vertically-adjustable bed-plate, B, having a concave upper surface, and so guided by a square stem, Z, which passes through an opening in the frame H, or by other suitable means, that any rotary or tilting movement of the said bed-plate shall be eftectually prevented. The under beveled edges of the bed-plate rest upon the correspondingly beveled or inclined edges cl d of the dies, above which are other inclined edges e e, the latter being parallel with the upper beveled edges ffof the bed-plate. (See enlarged sectional views, Figs. 6 and 7.)

The operation of the machine is as follows: The dies having been separated and the bedplate lowered, the body Y and head X of the can7 bent at the edges in the manner shown in Figs. l and 6, are tted together and placed upon the bed-plate and between the dies, in which position they are held by the pressure of a spring-plunger upon the top of the can, or otherwise. The dies are then advanced toward each other, which will cause a corresponding elevation of the bed-plate, owing to the inclination of the edges d d, upon which the latter rests, and the result must be the bending and clamping of the head between the edges e and f of the dies and bedfplate, and against the bent edge of the body of the can, and this, as will be plainly seen in Fig. 7, will not only complete the joint, but effect the required sinking of the head of the can.

The movement of the bed-plate B is not dcpendent upon a spring, as in my patent of January 27, 1874, but is decisive; and hence this plate must be the medium of sinking the head to a certain depth, determined by the inclination of the edges of the dies, without reference to the thickness of the plates used in the construction of the can.

It will be observed that the central portion of the head X of the can, before being subjected to the action of the dies and bed-plate, is stamped to a concave-convex form, and that the bed-plate is correspondingly shaped. This countcracts the tendency of the head to rise in the center when its edges are subjected to the pressure of the dies and bed-plate, and thus enables me to dispense with any devices for holding down the center of the head of the can which is being operated upon.

Although I prefer to operate the bed-plate through the medium of the dies, as above de scribed, the said bed-plate may be operated independently Without departing` from my invention.

I am aware that radial dies for closing the seams of a can have been combined with a movable bed-plate, as, for instance, in the Patents No. 95,190 and 146,947; and this I do not claim, as the bed-plate was not actuated by the machine, but depended for its upward movement on a spring 5 but I claim as my inventionl. In a machine for closing the seams at the junction of the heads with the body of a sheetmetal can, the combination of the radial sliding dies A with a bed-plate, B, which depends for its upward movement on the same prime mover Which actuates the dies, as set forth.

2. The combination of the movable bedplate B, beveled at its under edges, and the radial dies A, having beveled edges d and c, adapted to those ofthe said bed-plate, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The movable bed-plate B, having' a concave upper surface, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony Whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing` Witnesses.

JAMES H. PERKINS.

Witnesses WM. A. S'rnEL, HARRY SMITH. 

